How to insert the widget into a project:

(Please note that this tutorial shows an earlier version of this widget. The current version has even more features.)

Simply insert the Drag and Drop Lite Question Widgetinto your Captivate 4 or 5 project to generate a new question slide. If using Captivate 4, be sure to go into Preferences and set your ActionScript version to ActionScript 3.

Add images, captions, rollover captions, animations, and highlight boxes to create the graphic elements you want to include in your question. (Drawn shapes such as polygons are not supported. You also cannot add interactive objects such as clickboxes and buttons to a quiz question slide.)

Give all of the objects an appropriate unique Item Name in the Properties > Item name field.

On the Widget Properties> Correct Answer tab, drag the named objects from the top level onto their relative target objects on the bottom level. Scroll left and right if necessary to find drag objects or target objects.

On the Widget Properties> Preferences tab, configure how you want the widget to work.

Publish your movie to test your drag and drop question, and that's all there is to it!

Configuring Widget Preferences

This section explains each of the Preference options you see in the Widget Properties dialog. Some of them are fairl self-explanatory. But others will only make sense in certain scenarios.

Objects tab

Use this tab to add drag objects and target objects to your quiz question slide. Each object should have a unique Item Name in the Captivate Properties tab. Change the default names supplied by Captivate to your own more meaningful names to identify the objects in your widget.

Success tab

Use this tab to define the correct answer based on which drag objects should be matched to which targets. Simply drag the drag objects down onto their relevant targets to define the matching combination.

Please note that the Drag and Drop Lite question widget only allows for one correct answer. If you need to create an interaction with multiple correct answer combinations, you should use the Interactive Drag and Drop widget.

Preferences tab

The Preferences tab has several sub sections to accommodate a wide variety of configurable options.

General options

Use initial hit testing

This setting adds more scope to the types of questions you can create, but it comes at a potential cost. Say you wanted to create a question that taught users the correct order of steps to follow in a business process using a diagram like this one:

You create the drag and drop question using images of the action boxes as drag objects and highlight boxes as hit targets with the preference set to Hide targets at runtime. Then you turn on Randomise > Swap places so that the action boxes are randomly shuffled at runtime, requiring the learner to drag them all back into their correct places.

However, when testing your question you notice that sometimes it gets marked incorrect even though all objects have been correctly positioned over their relevant targets. What gives? Well it all has to do with the way the widget performs hit testing.

Normally, hit testing is only performed after an object has been dropped onto a target. This works fine as long as you drag the object at least once. However, what if your object was already sitting over the top of the correct target on the diagram, so you did not move it? In that case, this object will not be hit tested. When the question is evaluated on Submit, it will appear to the widget that one item is missing (because it didn't show up in the hit tests) and therefore the question will be marked as incorrect.

To allow for this question scenario we've added the option to Use initial hit testing. This means that objects will be tested without being dragged. It covers the scenario we outlined above quite nicely. But....it's a two-edged sword, and you need to use it with caution. We even added a stern warning message that pops up when you select this option to remind you of the potential dangers.

Here's the problem: Say you thought your question was now working very well so you decided to make it submit automatically so that the learner doesn't have to click a button. Since all objects start the question positioned over target objects, this question would immediately submit without the learner taking any action!

Drag object limit

Use this setting to configure whether each target can only accept a single drag object (the default) or multiple drag objects. If you start configuring the Success tab answer and drag more than one drag object to a target, a warning message will ask if you want to change this setting from the default single object to multiple objects per target.

Display options

Hide Drag Object on Drop

Use this option to make it appear as if the targets 'swallow' or consume the drag objects. For example, you could drag objects into a trash can and have them disappear when dropped on the trash can.

Hide Target Objects at Runtime

This option makes target objects invisible at runtime. You can use this option to make it appear as if other objects in the background are the targets.

Bring Drag Object to Front

This causes objects being dragged to end up on the topmost layer AFTER being dragged. This may be advantageous for certain types of interactions where you want the last-dragged object to remain visible and not be buried under other objects that are on higher layers in the timeline.

Submit options

Success/Failure evaluation

Use these options to configure how or when your quiz question will submit. The option for None requires that your user click the default Submit button that is added to all quiz question slides by default. Other submit options can be selected so that your question submits automatically when a given condition is met.

Reset Incorrect Drag Objects on Evaluate

If selected, this option will cause any drag objects incorrectly placed to snap back to their original positions, leaving any correctly placed objects on their targets. This would be with the intent of giving the user another chance to complete the interaction. So you would usually be giving more than one attempt on such an interaction.

Snapping options

No Snapping

Use this if you want drag objects to remain where ever they are placed on screen.

Snap to Anchor

This option allows you to configure how objects will snap to their targets. You can select the registration anchor point by clicking one of the nine positions. For example, select the center position if you want drag objects and targets to align to center.

Smart Snapping

This option allows mutliple targets to be spread out when positioned on single drag objects. You can choose whether the drag objects arrange themselves across and then down, or down first and then across by clicking the relevant icon.

Padding

This allows you to specify the number of pixels that separate multiple drag objects on a single target. It can also be used to offset a single drag object from its target.

Review options

Display Correct Answer

Specify the Item Name of a screen object that when moused over will cause drag objects to move into their correct positions during the Quiz Review. This object will ONLY be visible at runtime when Review Mode is active.

Review Area Feedback

Specify text to appear in the Review Area box during Review Mode. (NOTE: These fields only apply to Cp4 and Cp5. From Cp 5.5 onward Adobe implemented a different method of indicating correct or incorrect status on quiz slides during Review Mode.)

Miscellaneous options

Randomize

Determines how drag objects will be initially placed on screen when the interaction first opens:

None - drag objects will remain in the postions you placed them in Edit mode.

Anywhere on stage - drag objects will be spread randomly across the stage area.

Use Hand Cursor

This option shows a hand cursor over valid drag objects at runtime.

Snap Back if Not Dropped on Target

This option causes any object not dropped on a valid target to snap back to its original starting position.

Snap Back if Dropped on Incorrect Target

This setting causes objects dropped on an incorrect target to snap back to starting positions. The enhancement was suggested by customer Andre van den Berg from New Zealand who wanted to create training interactions that forced the learner to keep trying until they had successfully found the correct solution. Thanks Andre! We liked your idea and included it for everyone else.However, if you use this option, be aware that it may mean your learners can never actually get the question wrong. With this preference enabled the widget will only ever allow drag objects to drop onto correct targets.

About tab

The about tab shows the version of the widget and has links to open online help pages or raise a support issue with Infosemantics.

We will be offering a special deal with our new Drag and Drop Interactive Widget, but it will be open to everyone, whether or not they have purchased the existing Drag and Drop Lite Question Widget.

Here's the deal: Even though the new widget is much more complex and powerful than the previous one, and will allow even more sophisticated interaction, we will be offering it at the same low price...to begin with. What we mean here is that the first release version of this new widget will cost the same, but we will be increasing the price with each successive point version release as even more planned features are added. However, anyone that has already purchased the widget gets all upgrades for free.

So, if you liked our Drag and Drop Lite Question Widget, you'll love what you can do with the Drag and Drop Interactive Widget! And if you get in quickly, you'll get it for the lowest price it will ever be.

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